Chapter 5 – When I Decide

It had been exactly one week since I first met Kyuubey. One impossibly long week, filled to the brim with so many new discoveries.

The existence of witches that sowed disaster and destruction into the world.

The existence of magical girls to confront them.

The reality that those magical girls had been protecting the world all along, right under my nose, in exchange for their own wishes.

I felt like my head was going to explode with all the new information.

But then, there was Sayaka-chan, the girl who’d been with me since elementary school, going off and making her own contract to become a magical girl… Leaving me helpless and alone.

We were in class, waiting for the start of morning homeroom.

Shizuki Hitomi-chan yawned, gaping her mouth wide before immediately blushing. “Oh my, how unscrupulous of me… I must apologize.”

“What’s wrong, Hitomi? Didn’t get any sleep?” Sayaka-chan asked cheerfully.

I blankly stared at the two of them, unable to get the image of Sayaka-chan as an indigo-blue magical girl out of my mind.

“Yes. I was busy until late in the night dealing with matters at the hospital and police station…”

“Really? What happened?”

“I suppose it was some kind of sleepwalking incident… Many other people had the same symptoms, and we all woke up in the same place.”

“Huh? What’s that all about?” Sayaka-chan urged, as if she didn’t know.

“The doctor said it was a mass hallucination, or something… And now I have to go back after school today for a thorough examination, as well. Oh, it’s all such a hassle…”

Hitomi-chan didn’t seem to have any recollection of her attempted mass suicide at the abandoned factory. I stole a glance at her side and noticed that the witch’s kiss mark had also disappeared from her neck.

“Well if it’s all that bad, why not just take a day off school?” Sayaka-chan teased.

Hitomi-chan immediately straightened up, retorting, “Absolutely not. That would make it appear that I am truly sick, and cause my family great concern.”

“Now that’s an honors student’s answer right there. Gold star,” Sayaka-chan cackled.

It started to hurt watching the two of them, so I averted my eyes. That made me suddenly meet Akemi Homura’s gaze, as she had apparently been watching me. Startled, I quickly turned away, facing back forwards.

What’s Homura-chan thinking about? I found myself wondering.

Was she reassured that there was a new magical girl in town? Or maybe she found it just as annoying as she did Mami-san…

What if both magical girls began to work together? If they did, maybe–

Maybe what happened to Mami-san wouldn’t happen again.

Because if there was one thing always on my mind… it was that I didn’t want anyone to feel left alone.

◯

“Man, I haven’t been here in a while. It feels so nice!”

That afternoon, Sayaka-chan took me to the banks of the Himena River. She laid down on the lush grass, stretching out as much as she could. “Saturday afternoons are great… I wish every school day was a half day.”

As Sayaka-chan squinted her eyes in pleasure, I just had to ask, “…Aren’t you afraid, Sayaka-chan?”

“Hm?”

“…I mean, about your magical girl contract.”

Sayaka-chan folded her arms behind her head, smiling. “Well, I am a little bit scared. But I won without too much trouble yesterday, at least.” A shadow passed over her face. “The alternative was losing you and Hitomi… both at the same time. That’d be a lot scarier, don’t you think?”

Her face was so serious. It made me feel even more upset.

She had basically told me that part of the reason for her magical girl contract was to keep me safe.

But Sayaka-chan suddenly sat up, whipping out her soul gem with a smile. “The point is… how do I put it? I feel confident? Sure? I think it’s fair to toot my own horn a bit. I’ve never felt so ecstatic before. It’s like, I’m Sayaka-chan the magical girl, safeguarding the peace of Mitakihara City!” She chuckled, giving me a few pats on the shoulder.

“Are you sure you don’t have any regrets?”

Sayaka-chan thought for a moment. “Well… If I regret anything… it’d probably be that I hesitated for so long. If I was gonna do it anyway, I really should have made up my mind sooner. Maybe if I had been there for the other witch, Mami-san and I could have fought it together, so she wouldn’t have had to die.”

She brought me right back to the same moment. The promise I had made with Mami-san.

I promised that I’d fight with her… stay with her… and it made her so happy. But when the rubber hit the road, I got scared and ran away.

Sayaka-chan wasn’t the one to blame. I was.

I looked down, black regret swallowing up my heart.

“Hey now, you’re getting some weird thoughts in your head again, aren’tcha?” Sayaka-chan thumped me on the shoulder.

“I… I should have…”

“Look, I can only say that stuff because I’m already a magical girl.” Sayaka-chan put her arm around my shoulders. “Like I said, it’s only because I was gonna do it anyway. Far as I’m concerned, I was always destined to become a magical girl.”

“Sayaka-chan…”

“I already knew my wish, and I had every reason to accept the risks that would come with fighting. I’m just frustrated that it took so long for me to finally make up my mind… But you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. You weren’t meant to be a magical girl, and that’s that.”

She smiled, looking into my eyes. I knew I had to say something back, but before I could find the words, Sayaka-chan stood up.

“Well then, I’ve gotta get going.”

“…You have something to do?”

“I guess… that’s one way to put it.” Sayaka-chan smiled brightly, waved goodbye, and walked away, slinging her school bag over her shoulder.

◯

“…Oh.”

It was only after I was left alone on the riverbank that I remembered I had something significant to ask Sayaka-chan.

Am I really being your friend?

I had left her all alone to make the difficult decision of establishing a magical girl contract, and I really regretted that. If by some chance she really considered me a friend, then I wanted to be able to help her. I really wanted her to know that.

I was always like that, forgetting the important things in the heat of the moment. I quickly stood up, brushing the grass off my skirt as I dashed away in the same direction Sayaka-chan had left.

I headed down the riverside promenade all the way to the train station, finally spotting Sayaka-chan, but I immediately froze once I realized she was heading in the direction of the hospital where Kamijou-kun was staying.

“…What should I do?”

I almost didn’t so many times, but still ended up following her all the way to the hospital.

Sayaka-chan headed straight for the elevator, passing by the waiting room and lobby. I waited until she left, then summoned the next elevator, riding it to Kamijou-kun’s floor. I carefully stepped out on the eighth-floor hallway, quietly walking down the hall to Kamijou-kun’s room, where I heard a snippet of conversation.

“Oh, so you won’t be discharged any time soon?” Sayaka-chan asked.

“I haven’t finished rehab for my legs. Until I can walk on my own, I won’t be able to leave,” Kamijou-kun’s voice replied.

It sounded like they were the only two in the room.

“That’s beside the fact that they don’t know how the heck my hand healed. They want to run a whole bunch of tests on it for a while.”

“Is there anything wrong with the rest of your body?”

“Well, no. I feel so good that it’s kinda scary. The accident almost seems like nothing more than a bad dream. I don’t feel like I belong here. I guess you were right… if this doesn’t count as a miracle, I don’t know what would.”

I hadn’t heard Kamijou-kun’s voice in a long time, and though he sounded a little unsure about the whole situation, his voice was very animated. I could hear the happiness behind every word, and my head practically stuck against the wall as I kept listening.

“Sayaka, I… said some horrible things to you. The fact that I was so depressed was no excuse for–”

“Ahaha, you don’t have to bring that up. You should be happy right now. Don’t make that face.”

“Right… I guess it just hasn’t fully sunk in yet.”

There was a small silence, then Sayaka-chan suddenly interjected, “I think… it’s been long enough.”

“…Huh?”

“Let’s go get some fresh air, Kyousuke.”

I dashed away, hiding in a nearby kitchenette. Sayaka-chan came out of the room shortly after, pushing Kamijou-kun in a wheelchair. The pair headed into the elevator, the door closing behind them.

I walked up to the elevator after it closed, watching the floor lights. It showed them going all the way up to the roof.

At that point, I hesitated, wondering if it was better for me to just go home. I did figure on doing that, deciding to tell Sayaka-chan what was on my mind the next day, but just as I was going to head for the stairs–

“Hurry up, it’s starting on the roof!”

“Oh, wait up, wait for me!”

I heard two very excited nurses scrambling for the elevator.

…The roof? It was starting?

The phrasing really caught my attention, and before I knew it, I was getting on the elevator, too.

The door closed, and I tried to make myself as small as possible, my heart pounding nervously, but the two nurses chattered away without paying me any mind.

“I’m just so glad for him.”

“Yeah, Kamijou-kun had a rough time of it, and that girl came by to see him every single day.”

“It’s times like this that remind me how glad I am that the hospital is a place where people get better, too.”

I listened to them chat back and forth, and before long the elevator was at the rooftop. As soon as the doors slid open, the two nurses jumped out, and I quietly snuck out behind them. There was a staircase landing right outside the elevator that led up to an iron door to the rooftop, currently swung wide open.

Several people stood on the rooftop. Kamijou-kun was center stage, Sayaka-chan right beside him. Everyone was smiling and clapping for Kamijou-kun. There was a doctor in a white coat, all kinds of nurses, and what must’ve been Kamijou-kun’s family, all with beaming smiles and warm applause for the shocked boy.

“You all…”

“We can throw a real celebration once you’re out of the hospital… but your hand got better before your legs did,” Sayaka-chan said, smiling.

A man stepped forward, handing a violin to a very flustered Kamijou-kun. “You told me to get rid of it, but… I just couldn’t bring myself to throw it out.” From the way he spoke, I figured he must’ve been Kamijou-kun’s father. “Go on, play. There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Kamijou-kun had been watching the violin hesitantly, but once encouraged, he slowly took the violin and nestled it into his neck. There was a long silence as he seemed to be savoring the feel of it.

And then a sweet melody began to flow out from the rooftop.

I had no idea what song it was, or who composed it, but I could tell that it was a very difficult and complex piece. There were a few warbles in the sound every now and then, but the crystal-clear tone shot directly into my heart, making even the mistakes sound at home with the song. I found myself clutching my chest, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.

I wish you could’ve seen the look on everyone’s face when Kamijou-kun would play.

I remembered what Sayaka-chan told me before.

They’d practically turn into children.

She was right. Everyone on the rooftop watched speechlessly, just drinking in the music. The doctors, nurses, family members, and of course Sayaka-chan all stood there deeply moved, immersed in the ebbs and flows of sound. Some of them had tears in their eyes.

Even I was starting to cry.

Just then, I realized Kyuubey was sitting at my feet.

“…K-Kyuubey?”

“Hush,” Kyuubey whispered, holding a paw to his mouth. He used the other to gently touch my ankle.

A voice echoed in my head.

[ Mami-san… my wish came true. ]

It was Sayaka-chan’s inner voice.

[ I don’t regret a single thing… This is the happiest moment of my life… ]

I heard Sayaka-chan’s secret voice as she clutched her soul gem tightly.

Tears began spilling down my cheeks. And at that moment, I made a decision.

I knew I was a hopeless coward. I would freeze up when I was scared, I could never say what was on my mind, and I didn’t have the courage to become the person I wanted to be.

But I loved Sayaka-chan, the girl who would work so hard for other people’s sake. And because I loved her, I wanted to do everything I could.

Maybe it wouldn’t involve becoming a magical girl, but there had to be something that I could do. I didn’t know what it was…

But under that clear blue sky, I swore with my entire being that I would find it.

◯

First things first, I have to go find Homura-chan.

A new feeling of urgency had taken me over. I bolted to the elevator, taking it down to the first floor. I carefully walked through the waiting room, past all the people sitting on sofas, then dashed through the entrance.

…At least until I bumped into someone and fell over.

“…Ow.”

“I-I’m so sorry!” I quickly stood up, picking up my school bag and apologizing.

“Watch it, will ya?” said the other person with a glare. She was a girl about my age wearing a light blue sports hoodie, her bright hair tied up high on her head. She continued to glare at me as she scarfed down a hot dog.

“I really am sorry! I was just in a hurry…” As I apologized again, I noticed with a start that I had ketchup on my school uniform. “Oh…”

But the girl just gave me a once-over and snarkily said, “Maybe cut down on the scampering then, idiot,” with a sarcastic smile. She turned on her heel and walked into the hospital.

I watched her back as it got smaller and smaller. I felt like I had failed somehow, and it was a real bummer. But I wiped the ketchup off my chest with a handkerchief and quickly dashed away.

It was already past 2 PM, so I doubted Homura-chan was still at school, but I figured if I got lucky, I could run into someone with her contact info. With that plan in mind, I quickly went back to school, changed my shoes at the entrance, and flew up the stairs, rushing into the classroom.

Nobody was there, which wasn’t much of a surprise. But I knew I couldn’t give up, because tomorrow was Sunday, and I couldn’t afford to go all the way until Monday without seeing her. The risk of anything happening to Sayaka-chan in the meantime was just too great to ignore.

I headed to the staff room, making sure to knock before opening the door. Fortunately, Kazuko-sensei was there.

“Oh, Kaname-san? What is it? Did you forget something?”

“I, um, Sensei… Could you give me Akemi-san’s address?”

“Akemi-san’s? I suppose I could… just a moment,” she said, rummaging through some files on her desk. “I must say, this is perfect timing. I’ve been thinking about Akemi-san lately. Do you think she’s fitting into class well?”

“…Huh?”

“Well, she’s a transfer student, not to mention a quiet girl. I couldn’t help but worry. I would encourage you to engage with her a bit more, Madoka-san.”

When she said that, it suddenly clicked why I had never been able to see Homura-chan as a bad girl.

I remembered my experience of moving in as a transfer student in my fifth year of elementary school. I didn’t fit in very well at all. I cried every day, overwhelmed with anxiety, sadness, and loneliness.

“Aha, there it is. I’ll write it down for you.”

I only half-listened to what Kazuko-sensei was saying. I found myself thinking, How much do I know about Homura-chan, really?

I didn’t know where she lived. I didn’t have her contact information. All I did know was that she was a magical girl, she hated Kyuubey for some reason, she wore a black, white, and grey outfit, and she was incredibly strong, never flinching in the face of witches.

…But then I realized that wasn’t the full picture. She was more than just unflinching strength. When I gave up on being a magical girl, Homura-chan was the singular outlier who said that made her happy. It was a brief flash of emotion, quickly tucked away, but… it was real, and I had been happy to learn about Homura-chan’s underlying feelings. I was excited about the prospect of becoming her friend.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t know what her goals were, or why she really hated Kyuubey, or why she really wanted to prevent me from becoming a magical girl.

I realized that I needed to ask her about all that stuff too, when Kazuko-sensei said, “Here you go,” and handed me a scrap of paper, smiling brightly. “Here’s her address and phone number. Go be her friend, okay?”

Kazuko-sensei might not have meant anything too heavy by that, but I still felt my heart sink.

I wanted to be Homura-chan’s friend, but… I didn’t know if I was capable of being a friend.

I was such a coward, and I never had a firm grasp on what I wanted, so even I saw myself as unreliable.

I didn’t know if someone like me could ever be a true friend… and that made me sad.

◯

“What did you want to talk about?” Homura-chan asked, taking a sip of coffee. Her beautiful face watched me with her ever-cold eyes.

“Um… well…”

We were in a coffee shop by the train station that not many of our classmates went to. I had called the number Kazuko-sensei gave me, asking Homura-chan to meet me here.

I impulsively ordered the sandwich meal that I always bought when I went there, which was a stupid mistake. I had to eat it, since I’d ordered it, but that only made it harder to push the conversation forward.

“It’s, um, got to do with Sayaka-chan…” I ultimately decided I’d take the sandwich home, and just cut to the chase.

But the moment Homura-chan heard the word “Sayaka”, her eyes went from cold to subzero. She had been upset about Sayaka-chan’s possible contract, not just mine, so her anger was probably inevitable.

I thought about what I’d seen on the hospital rooftop, trying to use that to fuel my courage and press on. “I-I know that she can be stubborn, so she gets into a lot of fights… But, she’s a really good person. She’s kind and brave, and she pushes herself really hard to help other people…”

I envisioned the Sayaka-chan I knew, trying my hardest to portray her in a way that could push her and Homura-chan closer. But…

“That’s a fatal flaw for a magical girl,” Homura-chan replied icily. “Kindness just leads to naivete, and bravery just leads to recklessness. And just because she’s devoted to a cause doesn’t mean that she’ll get anything in return… If she doesn’t understand that, then she’s not fit to be a magical girl.”

Homura-chan averted her eyes, adding, “That’s what cost Tomoe Mami her life.”

“Yo-You didn’t have to say it like that!” My voice unintentionally came out as a shout. I cringed as I felt everyone in the shop turn towards me.

C’mon. I’m not here to pick a fight. Focusing on that, I tried again. “Sayaka-chan says she’ll be okay on her own, but… If what happened to Mami-san were to happen to her, then… I don’t know what I’d do…”

“You’re worried about Miki Sayaka, aren’t you?” She asked.

I offered a tiny nod in return. “I can’t do anything for Sayaka-chan any more…. So I came here to ask you something.” I shot my head up, looking straight into Homura-chan’s eyes as I asked, “Please work together with Sayaka-chan. Don’t fight with her like you did with Mami-san. If you all have to fight witches anyway, then the more the better, right?”

“…” Homura-chan didn’t respond, simply taking another sip of coffee in silence.

But I had come with a goal in mind. I continued to stare at Homura-chan determinedly, begging her with my eyes.

Homura-chan finally spoke, looking for a moment like she had given in. “I don’t want to lie, and I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.” Her words were strangely calm, and her eyes were cold… but also flashed with a hint of sadness. “So you need to give up on Miki Sayaka.”

Homura-chan’s eyes had become like the exact opposite of Mami-san’s. There wasn’t one trace of hope in them.

Her words were like a knife through my heart. “…Wh-… Why?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“She never should have made a contract in the first place,” Homura-chan said, her face twisting in regret. “And that was my mistake. I should have watched her as closely as I watched you. But I cannot atone for that mistake any more than somebody who died can come back to life.”

“But– But…”

“The moment someone becomes a magical girl, she is beyond saving. The nature of our contract means that we give up everything else in exchange for the one thing that we have decided to place our hopes in.”

…Give up everything?

“You too?” It slipped out unintentionally at first, but I asked again, louder. “Have you given up on everything, too, Homura-chan? Yourself, anyone else, everything?”

“…I have.” Homura-chan nodded matter-of-factly. “I cannot pretend to use atonement as an excuse. My sins and my fight are mine alone to bear.”

“…”

Homura-chan looked away as I stared at her, speechless. She stood up. “I’ve wasted your time. I apologize.”

With that, she left the shop, leaving me alone.

◯

The sun was already setting.

After Homura-chan left me, my feet just naturally took me where Sayaka-chan lived, a large condo complex about a five-minute walk from the train station.

I stopped right in front of the entrance.

What did I think I would do when I got here?

What am I supposed to say to her? What do I even want?

The more I thought about it, the harder it became to ring the buzzer by the entry door. I just stood there, clutching the straps of my school bag, until suddenly the doors slid open of their own accord.

“…Huh? Madoka?” It was Sayaka-chan. “What are you doing? Did you need something?”

“…Um, yeah. Sayaka-chan, are you, um, going to… uh…”

Sayaka-chan didn’t wait for me to finish, flashing a powerful smile. “Yup. Goin’ out on patrol for evil witches. That’s what a superhero’s supposed to do, after all.” It was a little bit sarcastic, but still…

“Will you be okay… alone?”

“Oh, ‘course I will. Mami-san was. Only fair to expect the same from her kouhai.”

But… Mami-san…

I have to force myself to act cool, because… it doesn’t matter how scared or hurt I am. There’s nobody to tell, so I just cry all alone.

I remembered what she whispered to me back then.

Being a magical girl… isn’t a good thing.

That frail, tearful voice replayed endlessly in my mind.

I grabbed Sayaka-chan’s arm. “I, um, I know I can’t really do anything, and I’d just be slowing you down, but… I just want to go with you as far as I can without getting in the way. Until then, maybe you could… let me go with you…”

“Madoka…” Sayaka-chan bent down a little to look into my eyes. “You’re really pushing yourself, aren’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry… I know I shouldn’t. I’m just bothering you, anyway…”

“…No, I’m actually really happy,” Sayaka-chan admitted with a smile, grabbing my hand. I was surprised at how cold and clammy it was. “…Pretty obvious, huh? My hands are shaking. They have been for a while. It’s pathetic, really. I’m already a magical girl, but being alone makes me feel so helpless…”

“Sayaka-chan…”

“You won’t be in the way. I’d be thrilled to have you along. Just having you here with me already makes me feel so much stronger. I could take on an army now.”

“I…”

I knew I wasn’t worth an army. I knew I was just going to be in her way and slow her down. But I was scared that if I didn’t try, then I couldn’t call myself Sayaka-chan’s friend… and that was enough to push me forward.

“I’ll make sure you stay safe,” Sayaka-chan whispered gently. “So don’t worry and just follow behind me. We always go together to defeat witches, after all.”

Her smile had a mysterious courage in it, the kind that came from deep within. The kind that Mami-san used to give me.

“…Okay,” I nodded, my face stuck somewhere between smiling and crying.

“You’re aware of the danger, right?” A familiar carefree voice informed me that Kyuubey was right behind Sayaka-chan.

“Oh yeah, just leave it to me!” Sayaka-chan nodded energetically, thumping her chest. “I’m a moron, so I’d probably pull some stupid stunt if I were alone. If I have to remember about Madoka being there, then I bet I’ll be more careful.”

“Is that so… well, then, as long as you’ve thought it through.” With that, Kyuubey hopped up on Sayaka-chan’s shoulder before turning to me.

[ And you’ve thought it through too, haven’t you, Madoka? ]

The telepathic voice came as a surprise, and I just stared at Kyuubey blankly. From what I could tell, I was the only one being spoken to.

[ I understand your desire to protect Sayaka. In fact, having you close by would be just another card up my sleeve should the worst-case scenario come to pass. ]

My heart jumped at the calm, robotic tone.

[ …Well, I– ]

[ No need to defend yourself. Sayaka would probably object if she knew, anyway. ]

I carefully turned to look at Sayaka-chan. She was happily strolling along, entirely unaware of our conversation.

As I followed behind her, I thought of the magical girl notebook that I had left in Mami-san’s room. All those depictions of the person I wanted to be, the person I longed to become. A girl who wasn’t afraid of anything, an invincible magical girl who could face any witch with a fearless smile.

Kyuubey watched me with gentle eyes. [ But if the time comes and you make up your mind, I will always be ready for you. ]

◯

Sayaka made her way through the dimly lit cityscape, her shining, blue soul gem held in her hand. The soul gem blinked in and out, and eventually began blinking faster.

“Right here,” Kyuubey called, and Sayaka-chan stopped in place.

We stood before an underground storefront squished between two old buildings. Sayaka held up her soul gem, and the stairway entry rippled and distorted.

Cackling roars began to echo.

“This is likely the domain of a familiar rather than a witch,” Kyuubey cheerfully commented.

No matter how much experience I got, my legs always shook when a witch’s domain revealed itself.

But as Sayaka-chan carefully watched the changing scenery, her voice filled with excitement. “Well, probably better to start with an easy one. I’m still a beginner.”

Then it happened. That familiar, incomprehensible voice with the cadence of a countdown.

Crayons began to dance around us as the sound of children playing echoed, and something fled deep into the domain.

“Ah, right over there!” I shouted, pointing.

“I got it!” Sayaka-chan responded, holding up her soul gem and becoming enveloped in blue light.

Her outfit was wrapped in the light, then stripped off and rewrapped to become the indigo-blue outfit I had seen her in the other night. Mami-san’s outfit had been somewhat fluffy and pronounced, but Sayaka-chan’s outfit clung to her slender curves. Its form-fitting nature combined with the miniskirt made it look very easy to move around in, a perfect fit for the athletic Sayaka-chan.

Sayaka-chan flipped up the cape attached to her shoulders, revealing a circle of longswords in a protective formation around her. “Take this!” she cried, and the longswords began flinging themselves at the familiars.

Swords pierced the familiar from every angle, and it was only a moment from being slain when–

One of the swords was deflected.

I stared wide-eyed as another girl made her entrance, carrying a spear that was longer than Sayaka-chan’s longswords.

“Hey! You’re letting it get away!” Sayaka-chan yelled, trying to run deeper into the domain after the familiar, but the other girl blocked her path.

“Just hold on now. What the heck d’ya think you guys’re doing?” The other girl said lackadaisically as she came closer. She had long, bright hair tied up high on her head. Her spear was hoisted over her right shoulder, and in her left hand was… taiyaki?

The girl chomped about half of the taiyaki in one bite, flashing a broad grin.

“…You.” That sarcastic smile finally connected the dots. She was the girl I ran into at the entrance to Kamijou-kun’s hospital, the one who got ketchup all over my uniform.

“You blind or something? That’s a familiar, not a witch. Ain’t getting a grief seed from that.”

“What?” Sayaka-chan shouted. “But if we leave it alone, it could kill someone!”

The girl ruffled her hair in annoyance. “Well duh, it’ll have to eat at least four or five people to become a witch. Then it’ll finally have a grief seed. If you want the golden eggs, don’t kill the hen.”

Her tone was cold and calculating.

“Did you really come all this way just to offer up a proverb, Sakura Kyouko?” Kyuubey asked, and the girl snorted.

“Well, I heard Mami bit it, so I figured I’d take over here.”

“I thought I had convinced you otherwise.”

“What, that stuff about an irregularity or whatever? Like I care.”

It finally clicked. This girl called Sakura Kyouko, who was always eating, had also made a magical girl contract with Kyuubey.

But something about her was different from Mami-san, Sayaka-chan, or even Homura-chan. She was scary, in the same way that facing a witch was scary.

“You’re just gonna watch as a witch kills people?!” Sayaka-chan screamed, readying a sword stance.

The girl’s eyes gleamed coldly. “You don’t seem to understand something. Ever heard of the food chain? They taught ya that in school, right? Witches eat weak humans, and we eat witches. Those are the rules. Survival of the fittest.”

“You can’t…”

She didn’t sound any different from a witch.

I had come to understand that every magical girl had their own personality and approach… but I still clung to the belief that magical girls were a source of hope.

“I better not be right about this, but… You didn’t actually make a contract with that thing out of some starry-eyed ideas of justice or helping people, right?” She pointed her spear at Kyuubey.

All of a sudden, Kyuubey was sitting on my shoulder, leaning against me.

“‘Cause if you did–”

The next moment Sayaka leapt off the ground. “What’s it to you?!” She raised her swords high, slashing them down towards Kyouko-chan.

“Sa-Sayaka-chan!”

But despite my worries, Kyouko-chan effortlessly blocked with her spear. “…Hey, cool your jets, buddy.” Her tongue lolled as she took another bite of taiyaki. She held out her spear with a single arm while Sayaka-chan pushed down on her longsword with both hands.

There was an obvious gap in their strength.

“Kh…Ngh…” Sweat started to form on Sayaka-chan’s forehead as she pressed down with all her might.

“Now look here… I don’t exactly like someone coming after my head if they’re gonna insult me with dainty little swipes.” With a slight twist, Kyouko-chan knocked Sayaka-chan’s sword away.

The next instant, the spear spun behind her, seeming to fall apart… only to show that the shaft had disjointed, held together by chains. The whole thing lashed out, slashing Sayaka-chan like a whip. Sayaka-chan cried out in pain.

“Sayaka-chan!” I instantly started running towards her battered form that had been knocked far away. But I slammed into some kind of invisible wall that I could only assume had been created by Kyouko-chan’s magic. “Sa-Sayaka-chan!! Are you okay?!”

“Hmph, amateurs. Maybe that’ll give you some time to cool off,” Kyouko-chan retorted, turning on her heel. But then–

“Who do you… think you are…”

I watched Sayaka-chan stand back up, her face contorted in pain.

Kyouko-chan looked back, shock plain on her face. “Wha–? Now, ain’t that something. Shoulda taken you a good three months to come back from that hit.”

“Sayaka-chan… Are you… alright?”

As I panicked, Kyuubey whispered in my ear, “Since her contract was formed on the basis of a healing wish, she’s a bit more resilient than your average fighter.”

“Who do you… think you are…” Sayaka-chan gritted her teeth, plodding towards Kyouko-chan. “Because of people like you, Mami-san…”

Kyouko-chan shoved the rest of the taiyaki in her mouth, readjusting her spear grip with both hands. “..Blah, blah, blah, boring. What’s with you? You shouldn’t be talking that way to your senpai.”

“Shut it!” Sayaka shouted, slashing her sword again. It was easily deflected by Kyouko-chan’s spear.

“Come on, quit playing around and take this seriously, moron!” Kyouko-chan shouted. Her spear lashed out twice as fast as it had before, and Sayaka-chan was forced to go on the defensive, quickly getting cornered.

“Sayaka-chan!”

“Any closer and you’ll get hurt, Madoka!”

I instinctively rushed towards Sayaka-chan, and Kyuubey desperately tried to stop me. But the tip of the spear lashed and stabbed at Sayaka-chan over and over and over, and I could see blood dripping from her body as she grunted in pain.

“I tell you and you don’t get it, I hurt you and you don’t get it, so I guess all that’s left is just to kill you!”

“S-Stop!”

But Sayaka-chan’s sword rose up to block just in time. I saw that the wounds on her body were glowing blue. But even if Kyuubey was right and she could take more hits, everything had a limit. She could actually die… and not even from a witch, but a magical girl.

“Well, aren’t you just a bag of tricks? Then how do you like this!”

Kyouko-chan’s spearhead mercilessly assaulted all of the chinks in Sayaka-chan’s defenses. It gouged at her cheeks, tore at her chest, and ripped at her stomach.

“Why… Why is she doing this? They’re not witches… why are allies fighting each other?!”

“There’s nothing to be done. Neither side will give in,” Kyuubey calmly replied to my screams.

“Please, Kyuubey, stop them… It doesn’t have to be like this!”

“There’s nothing I can do. But…”

“…But?”

Kyuubey’s red eyes looked into my eyes as they glistened with tears.

“If you really want it to stop by any means necessary, then there is a way.”

“…Oh.”

[ Having you close by would be just another card up my sleeve should the worst-case scenario come to pass. ]

[ But if the time comes and you make up your mind, I will always be ready for you. ]

There was a way. I could make a contract.

I could make a wish, becoming a magical girl.

Kyuubey nodded. “Only a magical girl can get involved in that battle. But you have the potential. As long as it is your desire.”

Of course… If I make a contract… Then I might be able to stop them.

But…

The moment someone becomes a magical girl, she is beyond saving.

I remembered what Homura-chan had told me.

The nature of our contract means that we give up everything else in exchange for the one thing that we have decided to place our hopes in.

Her sad, resigned eyes seemed to fill my entire mind.

“But… But…”

“Guuh…”

While I had been hesitating, Sayaka-chan had been completely defeated.

Both her legs were broken, and she was crawling along the ground.

Her feet were enveloped in a healing blue light, but not fast enough to stop Kyouko-chan.

“And now… it’s over!”

It doesn’t matter any more.

I could save Sayaka-chan.

I could still be her friend.

“I… My wish is–” I turned back towards Kyuubey, looking into his red eyes as I prepared to speak my wish.

“That won’t be necessary,” A voice called out above my head. I looked up–

And there was Akemi Homura-chan, dressed in a black and white outfit. But the moment I recognized her, she vanished.

“…Huh?”

 I turned around, finding Kyouko-chan and Sayaka-chan in completely different locations. Kyouko-chan’s spearhead had jammed into a random patch of empty ground.

The two turned around at the same time, finding the expressionless Homura-chan standing between them.

“Wha–?”

“Huh?”

Kyouko-chan and Sakura-chan both stood still in complete disbelief.